M3P.

025

A HIGH-SENSITIVE ULTRA-THIN MEMS CAPACITIVE PRESSURE SENSOR

Y. Zhang, R. Howver, B. Gogoi* and N. Yazdi
Evigia Systems, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
*
Currently with HVVi Semiconductors, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona, USA
encountered, it can be deployed in industrial, consumer,
military and automotive applications.

ABSTRACT
This paper reports an ultra-thin MEMS capacitive
pressure sensor with high pressure sensitivity of better
than 150aF/Pa, and small die size of 1.0mm 1.0mm
60m. It is able to detect ambient pressure change with a
resolution of 0.025% in a pressure range +/-3.5KPa. This
capacitive pressure sensor decouples the pressure sensing
from its capacitance sensing by using a hermetically
sealed capacitor that is electrically isolated but
mechanically coupled with a pressure sensing diaphragm
such that a large dynamic range and high pressure
sensitivity can be readily achieved. Because the capacitor
is hermetically sealed in a cavity, this capacitive pressure
sensor is also immune to measurement media and EMI
(Electromagnetic Interference) effects.

SENSOR DESIGN
Figure 1 illustrates the innovative design of the
capacitive pressure sensor.
Unlike conventional
capacitive pressure sensor, this pressure sensor has a
separate capacitor for capacitance sensing and an
additional thin diaphragm for pressure sensing. As
indicated in the figure, this capacitive pressure sensor
consists of three main elements: a diaphragm, a capacitor
made of a pair of plates (one fixed plate and one moving
plate), and a mechanical coupling element (the center
post). The diaphragm, the moving plate and the fixed
plate are all in circular shape to maintain a radial
symmetry for the stresses at the edges where the
diaphragm is clamped. Square or rectangular diaphragms
may also be used but there are high stress points in the
corners which may affect the dynamic range.

KEYWORDS
Capacitive pressure sensor, large dynamic range, high
sensitivity, Ultra-thin, MEMS, immune to media, EMI
resistance

Hermetically sealed cavity (Faraday cage)

INTRODUCTION

978-1-4577-0156-6/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

Sealed Capacitive sensor

Moving plate

Capacitive pressure sensors have been designed for a

variety range of applications in measuring both absolute
and differential pressures because of their high pressure
sensitivity, low temperature sensitivity, good dc response
and low power consumption [1-5]. Typically a capacitive
pressure sensor contains a thin diaphragm and this same
diaphragm is used as the pressure sensing element and the
capacitive sensing element as well. In general, the high
pressure sensitivity of a capacitive pressure sensor is
achieved by increasing diaphragm size, reducing
diaphragm thickness, and decreasing sensing gap, which
results in a large sensor size, non-linearity, and limited
dynamic range. In addition, typical pressure sensors are
sensitive to the measuring media which consists of
fluidic, chemical and electromagnetic effects since their
sensing diaphragms are directly exposed to measuring
environment. Thus pressure sensor media protection and
EMI (electromagnetic Interference) resistance can be
complex and also expensive.
This paper addresses above mentioned challenges by
decoupling of the pressure sensing element (mechanically
sensitive) from the capacitive sensing element
(electrically sensitive) to achieve high sensitivity and
large dynamic range. By electrically isolating the
capacitive sensing element from the pressure sensing
diaphragm while still being mechanically coupled and
being hermetically sealed in a cavity to protect the
capacitive pressure sensors from the measuring
environment. Since this pressure sensor overcomes some
basic problems of MEMS capacitive pressure sensors

Fixed plate

Electrical interconnect

L=W

Pressure sensitive diaphragm

Fixed plate

Capacitive sensor

Moving plate
Mechanical coupling
Electrical isolation
Pressure sensing diaphragm

Figure1: A schematic drawing for a high sensitive ultra-thin

pressure sensor design with a capacitor hermetically sealed in
a cavity. This capacitor is mechanically coupled with a
pressure sensing diaphragm, but electrically isolated.

As shown in the figure, the moving plate of the

capacitor is rigidly attached to the center of the diaphragm
through the center post, but is electrically isolated from
pressure sensing diaphragm. The size of this center post
is small enough to have a negligible effect on the
diaphragm deflection. The fixed plate is placed in parallel
with the moving plate to form a parallel plate capacitor.
This fixed plate also caps the moving plate inside of a
sealed cavity. As the diaphragm deflects under a pressure
load, the moving plate of the capacitor experiences the
same amount of deflection from the center of the

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Transducers11, Beijing, China, June 5-9, 2011

the pressure sensing diaphragm while still being

mechanically coupled and being hermetically sealed in a
cavity, the capacitive sensor is protected from the
measuring environment. By using a conductive layer for
the pressure sensitive diaphragm and holding it at a fixed
potential, a Faraday cage is formed around the capacitive
sensor. Since the capacitive sensor is now both
hermetically sealed and incorporated into a Faraday cage,
it is therefore immune to measure media and resistant to
EMI effects.

diaphragm. Thus a diaphragm deflection is readily

converted to a capacitance change.
For a circular shaped pressure sensor, the capacitance
sensitivity is given by
C 3(1 2 ) R 4 0 r Asense
=
P
16ET 3
g2

(1)

Where C is the change in capacitance, P is the

pressure difference across the diaphragm, R and T are the
radius and thickness of the diaphragm, E and are
Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio of the diaphragm
material, Asense is the area of the moving plate, and g is the
sensing gap between the moving plate and the fixed plate.
Thus the capacitance sensitivity to pressure can be
increased by scaling the dimensions of both pressure
sensing diaphragm and the moving plate of the capacitor
independently to achieve the design objectives.

SENSOR FABRICATION
The pressure sensors are batch fabricated and all
process steps are performed at the wafer level, which
results in a high-yield process and can be readily
transferred to standard MEMS manufacturing facility,
providing a clear cost advantage.

Si4N3/SiO2

Diaphragm

Isolation

Sacrificial 1

Sensor Wafer
Moving Plate

(a)

Moving Plate

Sacrificial 2
Sensor Wafer

Deflected Diaphragm

(b)

Anchor

Figure 2: A FEM model showing a deflected pressure sensing

diaphragm and an attached moving plate through a center post
located at the center of the diaphragm (the plot is not in scale).

Sensor Wafer
(c)

In addition, as can be seen from equation (1), for the

same amount of diaphragm deflection under load, the
capacitive sensitivity can be enhanced by increasing Asense
and reducing d, while the dynamic range can be increased
by scaling down the dimensions of the pressure sensing
diaphragm. Thus, the pressure sensitivity and dynamic
range can be scaled independently. This decoupling of
the pressure sensing from the capacitance sensing enables
the enhancement in both pressure sensitivity and dynamic
range in a small area. By suitable selection of dimension
ratio in pressure sensing diaphragms and capacitance
sensors, the design window is increased tremendously.
Since the moving plate is attached to the center of the
diaphragm, which is the largest deflection area under the
pressure load, the entire moving plate experiences this
displacement. Hence further improve the sensitivity of
the pressure sensor. Figure 2 shows a deflected
diaphragm under a pressure load by FEM (Finite Element
Method) simulations. A moving plate is attached to the
center of the diaphragm. The diaphragm has a clamped
boundary condition in the simulation.
By electrically isolating the capacitive sensor from

Fixed Plate

Etch Release Hole

Pillar/Lead-Transfer

(d)
Fixed Plate (poly 3)

Moving Plate (poly 2)

Diaphragm (poly 1)

Pressure
(e)

Figure 3: An illustration of a fabrication process flow for an

ultra-thin capacitive pressure sensor.

Figure 3 depicts the sensor fabrication process. In

general, the sensor fabrication process involves
deposition and patterning two oxide sacrificial layers and
three polysilicon structural layers. The fabrication
process starts with depositing a composite layer of
LPCVD (Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition)
silicon oxide and silicon nitride on the surface of SOI

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for chemical circulations during final release etching and

small enough for the final sensor capping and sealing
process.

wafers (Silicon-On-Insulator) with a 50m-thick device

layer thickness. SOI wafers are used here is for achieving
ultra-thin pressure sensors. Regular wafers can be used as
well in this process. The top silicon nitride layer is
patterned to define the shape, size, and location of the
pressure sensing diaphragms. The bottom silicon oxide is
served as an etch-stop for the final back-etch step.
Following nitride patterning step, the first polysilicon
layer (1.0-1.5m in thickness) is deposited, doped, and
patterned to form the pressure sensing diaphragms (Fig.
3(a)). The purpose of doping here is to make the pressure
sensing diaphragms conductive such that a fixed potential
can be applied to these diaphragms in the use of these
pressure sensor. In this way, the creation of a Faraday
cage is easily incorporated into the fabrication process of
pressure sensors. Complex methods for generating
resistant to EMI effects are avoided.
The first sacrificial oxide layer is deposited and
patterned followed by the second polysilicon (2.0-3.0m
in thickness) deposition and doping to form the moving
plate of the capacitor. This moving plate is mechanically
attached to the pressure sensing diaphragm at the center
through a center post, but electrically isolated from the
diaphragm with a thin layer of silicon nitride (Fig. 3(b)).
The thickness of the first sacrificial layer can be adjusted
to maximize the resistance to EMI effects.
The second sacrificial oxide layer is deposited and
patterned to define the sensing gap and cavity (Fig.3(c)).
The fixed plate of the pressure sensor is formed by
depositing and patterning the third polysilicon layer
(3.0-3.5m in thickness) Both the moving plate and the
fixed plate are perforated with small holes for release
etching (Fig. 3(d)). The sacrificial oxide layers are
removed from the cavity using a HF etchant through the
perforated holes. The cavity is finally capped by PECVD
(Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) oxide to
seal the perforated holes in the fixed plate in a low
pressure level of ~10 Torr. The handle layer of SOI wafer
is removed using DRIE (Deep Reactive Ion Etch) until the
buried oxide is exposed. Other methods such as lapping
and CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) can be also
used for this step. Both buried oxide layer and the device
layer are finally pattern and etched to expose the pressure
sensing diaphragm (Fig. 3(e)). At this point, the ultra-thin
(60m thick) capacitive pressure sensors are fabricated.
This completes the entire sensor fabrication process.
Figure 4 shows a top view picture of the fabricated
pressure sensor. The sensor has an overall dimension of
1.0mm 1.0mm 60m. Each sensor has six wire
bonding pads where two for the pressure sensing
diaphragm, two for moving plate and two for the fixed
plate. These wire bonding pads are for sensor testing and
characterization purpose in the development phase. They
can be further reduced to minimize the sensor size.
Figure 5 is a SEM picture showing the perforated moving
plate inside the cavity and the perforated fixed plate above
it. The diameter of the perforation hole is in the range of
2.0-2.5m such that these perforated holes are big enough

Figure 4: A top view picture of a fully fabricated pressure

sensor with an overall dimension of 1.0mm 1.0mm 60m.

Perforated fix plate

Perforated moving plate

Perforated hole in moving plate

Figure 5: SEM pictures showing the perforated moving plate

inside a cavity and the perforated fixed plate above it. The size
of the holes is in the range 2.0-2.5m.

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These measurements clearly demonstrate that the

pressure sensitivity and dynamic range can be scaled
independently with this unique sensor design.

SENSOR MEASUMENTS
The fabricated pressure sensors are tested and
characterized. Figure 6 and 7 demonstrate the measured
results from two of the fabricated pressure sensors. Both
of these two sensors have a moving plate of 150m in
radius while they have different sizes of pressure sensing
diaphragms.
The radius of the pressure sensing
diaphragm in Fig. 6 is 90m, and in Fig. 7 is 100m. As
can be seen from Fig. 6, the pressure sensor with a
90m-radius diaphragm is able to provide pressure
sensitivity better than 10aF/Pa in a low pressure range
(<1000Pa) and much higher pressure sensitivity of
150aF/Pa in high range (>1000Pa).
The overall
resolution is about 0.025% in full scale range. As the
radius of the pressure sensing diaphragm increases from
90m to 100m, the pressure sensitivity is largely
increased. As can be seen from Fig. 7, in the high
pressure range, the measured sensitivity is increased to
260aF/Pa (>1000Pa).

CONCLUSION
An innovative capacitive pressure sensor that posses
high sensitivity, large dynamic range, ultra thin profile
has been designed, fabricated, and tested. This pressure
sensor is immune to measurement media and resistant to
EMI effects. The test and measurement results also
indicate that this type of pressure sensor is able to largely
extend pressure sensor design space and to provide
solutions for many application challenges while improve
overall performance.

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Justin Riley and
Kenneth Desabrais with US Army Natick Solder Systems
Center for providing valuable information and
suggestions. This work was supported by US Army under
contract W911QY-08-0120.

Capaciance Change (fF)

250

REFERENCES

200

[1] Y. Zhang, S. Massoud-Ansari, G. Meng, W. Kim, and

N. Najafi, "A Ultra-Sensitive, High-Vacuum
Absolute Capacitive Pressure Sensor," Technical
Digest of the 14th IEEE International Conf. on Micro
Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS 2001), pp.
166-169, Interlaken, Switzerland, Jan. 21-25, 2001.
[2] Y. Zhang and K. D. Wise, A Barometric Pressure
Sensor with Multiple Elements, Digest IEEE
Transducers 95 Stockholm, Sweden, June 1995.
[3] Y. Zhang and K. D. Wise, An Ultra-Sensitive
Capacitive Pressure Sensor with a Bossed Dielectric
Diaphragms, Technical Digest of the IEEE
Solid-state Sensors and Actuators workshop, Hilton
Head Island, SC, June of 1994.
[4] C. Hierold, B. Clasbrummel. Low power integrated
pressure sensor system for medical applications,
Sensors and Actuators (Part A) Physical, no. 73,
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[5] Bishnu P. Gogoi and David J. Monk, Method of
manufacturing a semiconductor component having a
fixed electrode between two flexible diaphragms,
U.S. Patent #6,426,239 B1, issued July 30, 2002.

150

100

50

0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Applied Pressure (Pa)

Figure 6: A measured capacitive pressure sensor performance

for a pressure sensor having a 90m-radius diaphragm and a
150m-radius moving plate.

Capacitance Change (fF)

1000

800

600

400

200

CONTACT
* Y. Zhang, tel: 1-734-302-1140; yzhang@evigia.com

0
0

700

1400

2100

2800

3500

Applied Pressure (Pa)

Figure 7: A measured capacitive pressure sensor performance

for pressure sensor having a 100m-radius diaphragm and a
150m-radius moving plate.

The measurement results were compared with FEM

simulations and they have good agreements for both
sensors having 90m and 100m of diaphragm radius.

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